Missouri State

BILL ROWE
Baseball Coach, 1964-82; Athletics Director, 1982-2009
Inducted February 19, 1994

Bill Rowe's service to the Missouri State Bears as a coach and administrator has gone beyond the 30-year mark, as the man who ushered MSU athletics into its Division I, his value to the school's athletics has been phenomenal.

Rowe graduated from MSU in 1961 and the Marionville, Missouri product has been a part of the coaching and administrative scene ever since, with 19 years as baseball coach and athletic business manager prior to his assumption of the athletic directorship in 1982. Rowe established Bears' baseball in 1964 and was the only coach the diamond program had for the next 19 seasons. In his Missouri State baseball coaching tenure, Rowe guided his teams to a 394-230-1 overall record. The Bears posted winning seasons each of Rowe's final 15 seasons, and had a winning percentage of 60 percent of better 14 of his last 15 years. MSU captured MIAA championships in 1969, 1970 and 1979 and made appearances in the NCAA Division II tournament in 1969, 1970, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1982. The Bears finished as the national Division II runner-up in 1969 and captured third place in 1970. At the time he stepped aside from his coaching duties after the 1982 season, Rowe had the most wins out of any coach in MIAA conference history and was regional Coach of the Year four times. He coached nine All-Americans and 17 of his Bears' players signed professional contracts, with catcher Mark Bailey and pitcher Scott Bailes the first two MSU baseballers to reach the major leagues.

Rowe's tenure at MSU saw him serve on NCAA Division II tournament selection and All-American and Coach of the Year committees in baseball. He is a member of the Central Regional Advisory Committee for NCAA I-AA football selection, and is currently in his first year as chairman of the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee. Rowe, who also served as the football assistant at MSU from 1963 to 1966, was given an MSU Outstanding Alumnus Award in 1988 and was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame the same year.

Rowe's service as business manager saw him oversee MSU hosting of NCAA Division II competition at both the regional and national levels in cross country, baseball, basketball and golf. MSU hosted the first four Division II baseball tournaments from 1968 to 1971, the first three Division II golf tournaments from 1963 to 1965, the Division II basketball tournament in 1978 and 1979, and the Division II golf tournaments in 1974 and 1976.

Rowe moved to the athletic directorship in 1982 as MSU upgraded its program to the Division I level. The move coincided with MSU becoming a charter member of the Mid-Continent Conference and dominated that league almost from the beginning. MSU won Mid-Continent all-sports championships five times in eight years, earning Rowe selection as the league's Executive of the Year each time. The Bears wound up with 30 sport championships, more than twice as many as any other league school. While MSU was dominating the Mid-Continent, Rowe was behind the scenes involved in the planning for the MSU move into the Missouri Valley Conference in 1990.

Rowe retired from Missouri State in 2009 after 52 years in service to the institution. He entered MSU as a freshman in 1957 and capped a career in which he served as head baseball coach and athletics business manager for 19 years before taking over as director of athletics in 1982 upon the school's move to NCAA Division I status.  Notably, his AD tenure matched the longest in school history and his work was vital in making Missouri State a charter member of the Association of Mid-Continent Universities when that league was founded in 1982. He later spearheaded the effort for MSU's invitation to join the Missouri Valley Conference in 1990.
 
Rowe received Missouri State's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. He also earned an MSU Outstanding Alumnus Award in 1988 and was placed on the institution's Wall of Fame in 2015. He was the 2004 recipient of the MVC's John Sanders Spirit of the Valley Award and is a member of six Halls of Fame, including the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame, Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame, American Association of Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, National Association of College Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame,. In May 2016, Rowe was honored as the 34th person to become a Missouri Sports Legend by Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
 
Rowe was the first person to have his MSU baseball jersey retired, and the indoor training facility at Missouri State's Hammons Field is named the Bill Rowe Training Center.
 
MSU teams won nearly 100 conference regular-season and tournament championships in his years as AD, with some 50 postseason team appearances and more than 80 individual NCAA qualifiers. Rowe's continuous work with fundraising and facility upgrades included improvements to nearly every sport venue and support facility and culminated with his dedicated work to obtaining the lead gifts and project development of Hammons Field and the 11,000-seat Great Southern Bank Arena, which opened in 2018.